


Taking a Break

by FreezePride



Category: Kingdom Hearts
Genre: :), Christmas, Family Drama, Family Feels, Father and Son, Holiday, Other, Winter, warm and fuzzy
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-12-08
Updated: 2014-12-08
Packaged: 2018-02-28 14:37:48
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,691
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2736248
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/FreezePride/pseuds/FreezePride
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Characters: Even (Vexen), Ienzo (Zexion), ((Aeleus, Braig, Dilan, Arlene and Lumaria make an appearance))</p>
<p>Winter and Christmas themed drabble!  It’s one of three I’ve got planned so sit tight.  I really hope I have time to write all of them. XD</p>
<p>This one is Even and Ienzo centric, because I have issues involving them being adorable whenever I can possibly make them be adorable.  Warning for some father and son feels ahead.  I’m hoping to give you the warm-fuzzies. I’ll go back to dour and depressing after Christmas, don’t worry. It’s just a phase (She assured herself under her breath, wondering why this story doesn’t center around someone’s heart being broken/stolen or someone being abused.)</p>
            </blockquote>





	Taking a Break

It was no strange affair to see that it was getting late and the labs were still a flurry of motion.  Snow was gently falling, collecting on a windowsill which revealed a scene which could have been printed on a Christmas card.  White puffs had floated and collected into the most spectacular, shining blanket.  It glimmered as the sun finished setting, turning the sky a vividly sparkling pink.   
  
It went sorely unnoticed, however.  
  
Books were open, and they were both furiously taking notes by the harsh overhead lights which spared no expense in revealing every detail of the room.  All of it’s organized corners to all of the messy, half taken notes abandoned for another promising subject, a more promising experiment.  There were specimens in test tubes, chemicals bubbling and simmering away in all colors and varieties and the two occupants of the room were far too busy to notice the winter wonderland forming right outside their window.  
  
“My report is nearly complete.” Ienzo commented, jotting something down, looking back to his results under a microscope and continuing the process as though it were as easy as breathing.  Something about the young man looked grim, weathered.  His eyes were tempered beyond their years with something that might have been wisdom at one point but had settled into something akin to bitterness.  Most strangers were surprised to hear that he was a mere two decades old, but his single eyed glare usually kept them from balking at him.  
  
“Good.” Even answered listlessly, scanning the pages before him.  His pupils moved so fast, most onlookers found it dizzying.  Being around the elder scientist was an unnerving past time, but the young former-apprentice actually found his incessant note taking, his pouring over scientific journals to be somewhat calming.  One could always depend on Even and his study habits.  
  
...or could you?  
  
Ienzo was roused from his work by a sudden motion he caught in his peripheries.  Even had jumped to attention as though a thought had just dropped directly into his brain.  He looked up from his work and fixed Ienzo with a rather unfocused gaze.  His mental mechanizations were quite clearly far from this conversation, which was odd consider that just a fraction of a second ago he had been engrossed in the work before him.  
  
“Is something wrong?” Ienzo asked with a quirk of a brow.  Even set down his notes and stepped quickly over to Ienzo’s desk and slipped the books and microscope away from the prodigy.  Ienzo went from being surprised to being angry just a touch too quickly.   
  
“I said I was nearly-”  
  
“You should take a break.” Even cut in softly but he might as well have screamed it.  The words themselves left Ienzo dumbfounded, which is quite a feat considering that the most common complaint about Ienzo was that he never stopped talking (very strikingly like another certain scientist, but that freudian tangent is an entirely different subject).  
  
“What?”   
  
“You should take a break.  It’s quite late.” Even gestured vaguely to the darkness outside the window. He glanced at the door nervously and then back to Ienzo. “Really, I’ll be fine here.”  
  
Ienzo was still picking his jaw up from the floor, trying to process the words that had just come out of Even’s mouth.  He pinched himself on the arm. Yes, he was very much awake.  “Do you mind expanding on this for just a moment?” The eye quirk had settled into a knit brow that Even could only half see.  Even’s own eyes narrowed at his orders being challenged so easily by, in his eyes, the smallest of the apprentices.  
  
But after a moment, he sighed heavily and put a wayward hand to his temples, massaging softly and shaking his head. “When I was your age,” He began, pausing to collect himself and Ienzo couldn’t help but think, Oh, Gods, not this again.  Even continued regardless of the childish eye-roll. “I spent far too much time in the labs. I’m learning that I ignored a great many people that way.” He named this off and seemed to process it a second later, looking down to his feet and shaking his head again, apparently perplexed with just a hint of shame.  Ienzo maintained his silence, now out of sheer amazement.  Perhaps it was possible to teach an old dog new tricks after all, he reflected on a surface level.  Deep down, his mind was channeling through an endless array of memories, his five year old self standing at the door to the labs, watching Even with wide round eyes as the man worked furiously away, hearts floating suspended all around him, no time to look up and spot the storybook clutched in the child’s hands.  
  
The sight of his back, the silhouette of his tall, imposing form framed in the harsh lights of their labs had become a norm to him.  
  
Perhaps that was why when he looked up, seeing those brilliant green eyes looking at him imploringly, though not pushing him onward to get that report done, to revolutionize the industry, to surpass him finally, Ienzo was rendered speechless.  Even wanted the child to achieve what all other scientists could not.  The secret of life, perhaps?  
  
Problem was, Even had already played God.  He was still paying the price for it.  
  
“What I’m trying to say is that you still have time.  You should take that into consideration.” Even’s attention was still locked on Ienzo, begging him to avoid a fuss.  
  
Ienzo gave a small shrug, not one of insubordination, but rather because his mind was still trying to piece together a cohesive string of words.  This never happened. He stepped out from around the desk and made his way toward the door, taking a moment of pause, looking back at Even as the elder man gathered up Ienzo’s tools and began to clean them, making them presentable and ready for the next day of work.    
  
Even jumped slightly, feeling a light tug at the arm of his lab coat. He snapped his attention to Ienzo, the perpetrator who was now looking quite a bit younger than his years as he opened his mouth to speak.  
  
“I’monlyleavingifyoucomewithme.”   
  
Even paused. His mouth thinned into an annoyed line.  “I know I taught you to enunciate much more clearly than-”  
  
“I’m only leaving if you come with me.” Ienzo repeated in clipped tones, sounding just as annoyed as his counterpart.  It was Even’s turn to be amazed.  He gaped at the prodigy, opening his mouth to respond but finding himself absolutely speechless. He cleared his throat uselessly, one thought occurring to him above all the rest, that perhaps it was possible to get a second chance.  All of the times it had never even occurred to him that he was being neglectful rushed back to him, unbidden. Perhaps, it was time to make this right.  
  
He nodded, a small smile playing at his lips as he set the books aside, going over to his own desk to close up his work.  “Fine, Ienzo.” He said in mock exasperation, setting his notes neatly on top of his reference material with a small flourish that made the prodigy want to groan and storm out without him.  He waited, regardless as the man returned and they both exited the labs, flipping off the overhead lights with a decisive click and leaving the only source of illumination to be the rather magical, blue shimmer of the snow from the moon. Even hesitated in the doorway, feeling oddly as though he were breaking some sort of rule by leaving his work behind here.  Another small tug at his coat jarred him back to the present.  
  
Even took Ienzo by the arm and led him down the hallway, the heels of their boots clacking discordantly off of the cold stone walls.  “Where are you-?” Ienzo began.  
  
Even opened the doors to the main hall of the castle and Ienzo’s eyebrows shot up to his hairline (yes, even the unseen one). The main hall could only be described as being ‘decked out’ he would recall, once he had processed the insane amount of warm reds and vibrant greens which adorned the scene. Garland was strung along the ceiling, beautiful silver bows tied every now and then to shimmer among the verdant green.  Puffs of snow were falling, completely disappearing before it hit the ground, obviously a bit of magic provided personally by the ice master himself. The tree which had been arranged was the shining glory of the entire scene though. It sparkled with magical crystals as though it were frozen, glittering in the soft light of the room like diamonds which all seemed to gather at the very top to form an elegant, crystalline heart. Someone (Ienzo knew exactly who) had neatly placed blood-red roses among the pine branches, almost as if to emphasize their beauty nestled among the gems of ice.  Aeleus, finally out of his guard uniform and into his casual clothing was gently placing a few wrapped boxes under the tree, arranging them with the upmost care.  Dilan was setting down a platter full of deliciously warm sugar cookies next to a few pitchers of eggnog. Arlene wasted no time in swiping a few cookies before cackling and running off to join Lumaria who was lounging on the couch, admiring his handiwork.  Braig took the chance of a momentary distraction to smack Dilan in the rump, dodging skillfully away as the other man swiped at him, causing the cookies to splay across the table.  Ienzo looked up to Even finally.  
  
The academic smiled widely, expectantly, almost childishly.  “Merry Christmas!” He said, with a touch of awkwardness, as though unsure how to portray ‘happiness’ now that he had his heart back, or rather he had always been that confused when it came to human emotion but the feeling seemed to be overwhelming him.  Ienzo smiled back. For the first time that winter, despite all of the ice and snow, he felt quite warm.   
  
“Merry Christmas, Even.” Ienzo couldn’t remember Even looking so satisfied and proud as they walked into the room together.  
  



End file.
